A Path Forward

The Solutions Are
Clear and Actionable

This is not a complaint about growth. It is a proposal for planned growth that preserves a functional working waterway. Three specific actions, taken now, prevent this from becoming a courtroom correction under pressure.

"The issue is not growth versus no growth. It is planned growth versus geometric failure."

New River Navigation Corridor Review — Commissioner Briefing
The Action Plan

Three Asks. One Functional River.

These are the specific requests for the Commissioner's office. Each one has a clear outcome. Together, they protect the river before physics makes the correction instead of policy.

01

Invite FP&L to Formally Brief the Commission

Request a senior Florida Power & Light executive to brief the Commission and confirm: (1) required barge dimensions for Dania Power Plant service, (2) operational frequency of river transits, and (3) the minimum safe maneuvering width required. This single step reframes the entire conversation from a boating interest complaint to a critical infrastructure continuity issue. Politicians move when major infrastructure employers are implicated.

Infrastructure Priority Immediate Action
02

Designate Special Navigation Sections and Amend Dock Code

Direct City staff to: (1) identify critical navigation corridor segments where minimum functional widths must be maintained, (2) establish those widths based on vessel class and infrastructure access requirements, not property line geometry, and (3) propose amendments to the dock extension code that reflect maneuvering reality. Special Navigation Section designations create the legal and regulatory basis for enforcement by City Police, FWC, and USCG. Without defined corridors, enforcement remains reactive and politically exposed.

Current Code vs. Required Standard
Current Measurement Basis
Upland Property Lines
Required Measurement Basis
Maneuvering Geometry
03

Form an Intergovernmental Enforcement Task Force

Convene a coordination group that crosses the jurisdictional boundaries currently preventing effective enforcement. Vessels on both sides of the river can each comply locally while jointly creating a navigational obstruction. Only an intergovernmental framework closes this gap.

Participating Authorities
  • City of Fort Lauderdale
  • Town of Davie
  • Florida FWC
  • U.S. Coast Guard
  • Marine Industry Stakeholders
Optional Fourth Step

Request a formal USCG Waterways Analysis and Management System (WAMS) review to evaluate traffic patterns, risk exposure, and channel restrictions based on field data.

Enforcement Does Not Have to Wait

Florida statutes governing navigation interference (§327.44 F.S.) and federal obstruction law (33 U.S.C. §403) give City Police and FWC enforcement authority right now, under existing law, while the corridor designation process is underway. Enforcement under these statutes can begin during the permitting phase for waterway markers. The City does not need new law. It needs leadership to define the corridor and direct enforcement.

Authority: §327.70 F.S.; §327.44 F.S.; 14 U.S.C. §522; 33 U.S.C. §403/§409

The Message for Leadership

We are not asking the City to choose between residents and industry. We are asking the City to define predictable standards that protect everyone — before incremental compliance creates irreversible geometric constraint.

"It is better to define safe channel standards now than fix them in court later."
Commissioner-ready sound bite — New River Navigation Corridor Review
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